In the past utility companies depended on employees to inspect the utility meters of their customers visually to determine utility usage. Over 58,000 meter-reading employees work for utility companies and branches of the government in the United States. Meter reading cost the utility provider industry over $1.5 billion every year just in labor alone.
More recently, utility companies have sought out to perform automated meter reading in hopes of improving accuracy and reducing expenses. Recent studies have found that an automated meter reading system could save a utility provider up to $25 per meter every year. This adds up to millions of dollars saved even for companies serving only small metropolitan areas.
Although numerous automated systems have been disclosed, none of these offers both the accuracy and savings fully intended by the disclosers of these automated systems. For example, Myer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,316 disclosed a mechanically actuated magnetocrystalline counter enclosed in a utility meter, with the capability of having the magnetically counted utility usage data transmitted remotely. Yoshihara et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,371 disclosed a remote meter reading apparatus comprising interphone means. Gillberry, U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,140 disclosed a system for remote viewing and reporting, wherein a remote camera views a meter and transmits the scanned image to a central computer. These automated systems are all hard-wired systems. More recently, Belski et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,657,552 disclosed a wireless system for communicating and control of automated meter reading, which depends on a sensor to read utility usage. Several other more recent disclosures also propose various wireless schemes for transmitting utility usage data, but none of these disclosures transmit optical data, such as a visual image of a utility meter. Additionally, these automated systems still require significant manual labor in the recording of meter readings, and are still prone to human error.
Another consideration is that American consumers have previously relied upon their utility providers to provide accurate billing. Following the rate increases that took place in recent years, these same consumers are now questioning the accuracy of their billings. American consumers prefer to be able to see their own meters rather than being told what the meter allegedly used.
For the foregoing reasons, given the limitations of the above-mentioned disclosures, an improved wireless meter-reading system is desirable.